Vickerman backs Clark for United turnaroud

Melbourne United will hope a return to their happy hunting ground in Perth sparks a revival in form, and coach Dean Vickerman hopes Wednesday is the night for NBL and NBA champion Ian Clark to get back going.

United suffered to a seventh loss in 10 games on Saturday night with the defeat in the top-of-the-table matchup with the Illawarra Hawks as they fell to third place on the NBL table.

One player best illustrating the form of the team has been Golden State Warriors NBA and Sydney Kings NBL championship-winning guard, Clark.

He is in his second season with Melbourne after providing 13.6 points and shooting 41.4 per cent from three in NBL24. He started NBL25 strongly too with 14.5 points over the first 18 matches while shooting at 46.9 per cent from the floor and 40.0 per cent from downtown.

However, the last six games now have seen Clark's form fall dramatically with him averaging 5.5 points on shooting 27.5 per cent from the field and going 3/18 from deep at 16.7 per cent.

He got to the foul line 33 times in the first 18 games too and has only been there twice in the last six.

Clark had just four points on 2/6 shooting in Saturday night's loss to the Hawks but Vickerman is backing the 33-year-old to turn things around, starting in Perth on Wednesday.

"If I knew the absolute answer to that I would have done it three or four weeks ago, but we're staying really positive with him and we know what he's capable of," Vickerman said.

"We know what he did at the start of the year and how well he shot the basketball so we talk to him a lot about the defensive end and making sure he's super solid at that end.

"We feel like when we've got both he and CG on the floor that it can really stretch it out, and there should be good opportunities for him.

"He still got some pretty good looks that he's capable of knocking in and I felt like tonight was going to be a night he was ready to go, and that it was coming for him. Hopefully that comes in Perth."

By the time Melbourne beat New Zealand by 27 points in Christchurch back on December 5, they were sitting pretty in top spot at 12-3.

However, United lost their next four games including their last home match until February 1 before bouncing back in Cairns on Boxing Day, winning twice at the death over Sydney and New Zealand, and then were playing for top spot on Saturday night.

Melbourne proved no match for the Hawks with the 22-point loss which saw them slip to third with just four matches remaining.

A loss on Wednesday to the Wildcats, and there's a chance they continue to slide further down the table with the Sydney Kings and South East Melbourne Phoenix breathing right down their necks.

What the loss to the Hawks showed is that they have a lot of work to do still, especially by giving up 56 points in the paint, 25 second chance points and 24 fast break points along with putting Illawarra to the line 30 times.

The positive is that United now returns to Perth on Wednesday night where they have beaten the 'Cats nine of the last 10 times including earlier in NBL25 by 29 points, and Vickerman hopes it's just the tonic for them to get back in form.

"They had come off a loss to Adelaide and were coming back home, and did exactly what a good team should do with the way they responded and the effort they played with," Vickerman said.

"That's our challenge right now to say that we just took a tough loss on the road, we're going to Perth and that's the team that right now we're battling with for a top two position.

"If we don't play with a greater physicality and commitment in some areas as a team then the result could be similar because they're putting up crazy numbers as well.

"Their offence is off the charts right now so for us to go there and hold them somewhere around the 90 mark is the challenge that we go over with. We did that earlier in the year so there's no reason why we can't respond and do it again."

Shea Ili is one Melbourne player whose effort can never be questioned and he again did all he could against the Hawks with 20 points, four assists and three rebounds.

He wants to see a desperate United outfit in Perth on Wednesday night.

"We're desperate now and we have to be. We have to come out there in that next game and win those effort areas like Illawarra did tonight," Ili said.

"We just have to go out there and take it on like it's a playoff game. We should have shown up like that in this game but we didn’t win those effort areas and we now have to make sure we do in the next one."